I just picked up an American IPA from my LHBS. My friend had brewed this kit not too long ago, and upon tasting it, it was not "hoppy" enough for mine or his liking. It comes with 1oz Galena 12% for bittering and 2oz Cascade 6% for aroma.

I am planning to dry hop also, something that he did not do, and I was just wondering what hops would go great with these to give it that more IPA taste. I was thinking another oz for bittering. Should I use more Galena or is there something that anyone would recommend to compliment this?

Thanks for reading

__________________Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.

Do you want more bitterness, or flavor/aroma? I personally think the oz. of Galena is good for bittering, but you could intensify the flavor and aroma (and bitterness slightly) by adding an additional ounce or two in the final 20 minutes along with an additional ounce (or two) in secondary. Use American style hops like Cascade, Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial, Summit, etc. This should satisfy any hophead, IMO.

I wouldn't up the bittering hops too much, unless you thought the original was too sweet or malty. I'd throw in a lot of hops in the last 15 minutes. Northern Brewer and Centennial are two favorites of mine. I'd drop in 1-2 oz of either, little by little, over the last 15. I won't give any advice on the dryhop, as I've only done that once. (It worked out nice, but I wouldn't call myself a master or anything.)

You could throw another ounce of hops as you're lautering (FWH)...It won't add much bitterness but it will contribute more flavor. Figure it's about equal to a 20 minute boil in terms of bitterness. That should give you enough bitterness and flavor. If you want really hoppy I would do 1 ounce cascade FWH, 1 ounce Galena 60 min, 2 ounce Cascade 15 min and 1-2 ounce Amarillo or Centennial dry hop.

If you're doing extract you should definitely up the bitterness hops by a half ounce or more. I find it really hard to over hop extracts that are less than full (7 gallon) boils.

I just did an IPA where I used 1 ounce Ek Gold FWH, 1 ounce Galena 60 min, 2 ounce Ek Gold 15 min and it has a nice firm, round, assertive bitterness (around 55IBUs)

Thanks for the advice. I decided to wait to brew till tomorrow... 80mph gusts with 30% chance of snow... nothing like frigid weather to keep me indoors to brew. I even bought a Ruination and a He'Brew for tonight... oh well a good buzz will do for tonight.

I think im just going to change my hop schedule so I get more IBU out of what I have. I used an online calculator and I should be around 70 IBU's.

But I will definitely dry hop this, which like I said is one thing my friend did not do.

__________________Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.